Lifting jack with traveling pinion mechanism



Slpt. 4, 1934. D NlLsON 1,972,573 L-IFTING JACKWITH TRAVELINGPINIONMECHANISM Filed July 25. 1932 :s sheets-'sheet 1 fig/1 ld? mi iSept. 4, 1934. L. D. NlLsoN LIFTING JACK WITH TRAVELING PINION MECHANISMFiled July 25,' 1952 3 sheets-sheet 2 Aha/mmv Sept. 4, 1934.

LIFTING JACK WITH TRAVELING -PINION MCHANISM Filed July 25, 1952 3Sheets-Sheet 3 L. D. NlLsoN 1,972,573

Patented Sept. 4, 1934 UNirEofSTATES Lrr'rmc 'JACK WITH TRAVELINGPINvIoN MEcHAinsi/iV Leonard NilSml, Wayzata, Minn. 'i

Application July 25, 1932, SerialNo. 624,623

14 Claims.

An object ofiny invention is to provide a lifting jack in which pinionmechanism of simple, durable and inexpensive construction travels alonga the pawl andratchet mechanism and open the check valve when it isdesired to lower the lifting head. l Still a further Objectis to providearvjack structure of -the character mentionedin the preceding objectswith a pawl to prevent settling ofthe load i and to further providemeans to release this pawl when it is desired to lower the load. Y

Another object is to provide aV plural ratchet and pawl mechanism havingstaggered teeth whereby slight movement of the operating handle of thejack will produce lifting movement of the lifting head, thisA beingespecially desirable on` balloon type tires when they are'iiat andconsequently' there is not much room for operating a handle particularlyunder bumpers, trunk racks, etc. and such possibility of imparting butslight rotation to the ratchet mechanism -being thereby accomplishedwithout sacricing the strength of' the teeth of the ratchet member.V

A furtherl object is to provide a-lifting jaclirhaving a pivoted liftingarm withmeans for swinging the arm comprising a traveling pinion opera-35. tively connected with thearm by a link, the pin` ion being adaptedto travel along a rack bar and the link having a roller for maintainingYthe pinion and rack bar in meshrwith each other.v

A further object is to Vprovide pawl and ratchet mechanism forrotatingfthe pinion regardlessof the length of the stroke imparted tothe `pawl, Asuch mechanism including-a smooth faced ratchet member andwedge face and roller pawlmechanisrnV which will grip the ratchet memberin any position instead of merely atf predetermined spaced positions aswhena toothed'ratchet member and a pawl are used.

Still a further object is to provide for the ratchet mechanism of thelast object, a hydraulic -holding mechanism 'which will hold any move--VmentV gained regardless of *how small it is -so that even though theoperating handle of the jack can move only an eighth of an inch,the'jack can be r operated at arelativelylow speed-until the parts` 5"of the car prohibiting greater movement -of-the= on theline'S-S ofFigureG; and

operating handle are raisedhigh enough to permit a greater throwthereof.

Still a furtherrobject is to provide a ratchet and pawl mechanism whichtravels withthe pinion along the rack bar and an operating handles()which also travels with it during therotation of the-pinion.

A further object is to provide means for lowering the jack inthe form ofa pawl release and an opening device for a checkvalve included in thehydraulic holding mechanism.

With these and other objects in View my invenltion consists in theconstruction, arrangement andcombination of theyarious parts of my dewvice, whereby the objects contemplted are at- 704 tained, as hereinaftermore fullyset forth, pointed out inA my claims, and'illustrated in theaccompanying drawings; in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a jackembodying my invention. Y 75 Figure 2is a side elevation partly in section of the same.

Figure 3y is a longitudinal vertical sectional 'View on'the line 3--3 ofFigure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional'view on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 showingahydraulic mechanism on an enlarged scale. l

Figure`5 isa vertical sectional view on the line 5 5 of Figure 3. I

Figure 6 is a plan View of a modied-form of Y construction.

Figurevl is aside elevation partly in section Y thereof. y

Figure 8 is an enlarged detailed sectional kview V 90 Figure 9 is asimilarly enlarged sectional view on thevline 9-9 of'liigureV 7.

On the accompanying drawings, -I have used the reference numerals 10Y'to indicateV front.y

wheels. They are'mounted on an laxle Y12 which95k supports one end of'side frame members 14;

Side bars 16 are connected with the other' ends yof the frames 14 andhave their rear ends con.- nected with a crossl bar 18. The cross bar 18is 100 supportedby swivel Wheels 20.

Pivoted at 22 on an upwardiextension of the4 side` frames lfiisa pair oflifting arms 24. The `lifting arms 24Lsupport a pivot pin 26:,to which alifting head v28 is pivoted. The Ylifting. head..105 28fhas armsSil-carrying a pivotpin v32.

Linksl each have one end pivoted on the pin Y32a'nd one end'pivoted onpi-vot bolts-35. The pivot bolts 35 are mountedon'theirame members14eand-therlinks 34-actas stabilizers -for retaining 110 the l 40rotatesV in the rearward ends of links 42. The

surfaces links 42 have their front ends pivoted at 44 to the liftingarms 24.

The links 42 have upward extensions 46 carrying rollers 48. The rollers48 coact with the upper of the rack bars 36 to maintain the pine ions 38in mesh therewith. From the construction of the parts just described, itwill be obvious that rotation of the pinions 38 will cause them totravel along the rack bars 36 and thus produce swinging movement of thelifting arms 24. For

rotating the pinions 38, I provide the following described mechanism. y

Pivoted on the shaft 40 is an inverted U-shaped yoke (see Figure 5). Theyoke 50 carries a Zpin 52 on which is mounted a pair of lifting pawls54. Arpair of ratchet wheels 56 is secured to the shaft 40 for coactionwith the lifting pawls 54.

Springs 58 normally retain the lifting pawls 54 in mesh with the teethof the ratchet wheels 56. It will be noted that the teeth of the ratchetwheels 56 are offset relative to each other. The pawls 54, however, areof the same length so that even when the pawls are moved half the disntance of the teeth on one ratchet wheel, the pawl 35i-,of the otherratchet'wheel will engage with the 40,@ `erating teeth r thereof andthus step by step rotation of the ratchet wheel can be eifected by evena slight oscillation of the yoke 50.

For oscillating the yoke 50, I provide an ophandle 60 pivoted on the pin52. It is normally locked against'pivotal movement relative to the yoke50, however, by means of a notched segment 62 with which a sliding dog64 normally coacts. The dog 64 is connected by a link `66 452;,With arelease lever 68 and a spring 70 tends to normally retain the dog incoaction withl the sector 62. This arrangement provides for'adjust-yment of the operating handlev 60 to a vertical or horizontal position orto an intermediate poogfsition between the two just mentioned, dependingon the clear space for operation of the lever 60 when using the jack onan automobile or` other vehicle. y

For holding the load lifted by the jack and con- 55 j trolling thelowering thereof without the necessity of oscillating the lever 60, Iprovide a hydraulic mechanism comprising a cylinder '72 pivoted at 74, apiston 76 therein and a piston rod 78 pivoted at 80. The pivot pin 74 iscarried by a cross G0L-par 82 of the jack frame.

The pivot pin 8O is carried by the lifting arms 24.

When the lifting head is raised, the piston is extended relative to thecylinder.

The space in the cylinder 72 both in front of G51-3vand behind thepiston 76 is adapted to be sub- ,j end of the stantially filled with oiland during the raising movement, koil from the left end of the cylinderin Figure 2 passes through a port 84 and a bore Y 86 and then past acheck valve 88 into the right cylinder. The vcheck Valve 88 will openduring the downward oscillation of the cperating handle 60 and willclose during .the up-V ward oscillation thereof to hold whatever liftingmovement has been gained. i To guard against any settling of the loadwhen held by the hydraulic mechanism, I provide holding pawls 90 pivotedon a pin 92. The pin 92 is carried by the links 42.

When it is desired to lower the load, a lowering lever 94 may be engagedand pulled outwardly. The lever 94 is connected by a cable 96 with thepin 92. Suitable pulleys 98 and 100 are provided for the cable 96 toextend over ywithout materially' aiiecting the position of rthe handle94 with respect to a lever 102 on the shaft 92 during difierentpositions of the operating handle 60 and the yoke 58. The pulley 98 iscarried by the pin 52 which is freely rotatable to assume the positionshown in Figure 2. y

The pulley 160 is carried by a bracket 104 which is freelyrotatablerelative to the pinion shaft 40. The edges of the pulleys 98 and 100over which the cable 96 extends, it will be noted, are substantially atthe centers o?? the pins 52 and 40.

It will be obvious that pulling the lever 94 will swing'the pin 92 whichwill swing an arm 106 thereon and a pin 108 carried by the arm. The pin108 is adapted to engage lugs 110 of the settling pawls 90 fordisengaging them from the ratchet wheels 56. Through the medium oflugs1i2, links 114 and lugs 116,-the lifting pawls 54 may be disengagedafter the settling pawls are disengaged. n

After such disengagement, the slack in a cable 118 is taken up forswinging arms 120- and`122 and pulling a link 124, which in turn rotatesa cam member 126. The cam member 126 engages the head 128 of `a pin 130which is slidable in a bore 132 of the piston rod '78. The pin engagesy,the check valve 88y for opening it against the closing action ofanspring 134 thereon. Depending on the degreeof unseating of the `valve88, the lifting head may be ,lowered at any desired speed and may bestopped in any position by allowing the valve to close. If desired,springs may be used to assist in returning the lifting arm to itslowered position.`

The'liydraulic holding mechanism is particularly adaptedfor a type ofratchety mechanism which will operate even on the erating handleoscillations.

InfFigures 6 to 9 inclusive, I have illustrated a smooth facedratchet-member and wedge face YandV roller pawl mechanism which may besubstituted for the pawl and ratchet mechanism heretofore described andwill produce step by step rotation of the pinion regardless of thekdegree of oscillation of thel operating handle. This mechanism issubstituted for the pawl and ratchet mechanism of the previous gures andsimilar parts are given the same reference numeral with the addition ofthe distinguishing characteristic a.

Instead of a toothed ratchet wheel 56, I provide a smooth faced ratchetwheel 56a. The

member 56a, however, has ratchet teeth 56h for settling pawls 90a toengage.

smallest of op- Instead of holding pawls' 54, rollers 54a are providedand they are n mounted in a casing 50a, which in turn is connected withthe operating handle 60a..v Wedge faces 5019 'are provided between whichand the smooth face of the ratchet member 56a, the roll-V ers 54a may bewedged when the handle 60a is swung downwardly and released when it isswung upwardly. Springs 58a tend to wedge the rollers between the faces50h and the member 56a. The rollers 54a may be released against theaction of the springs 58a, however, by a release disk 110a havingfingers 1105 to engage the rollers when the lingers `are rotatedclockwise as viewed in Figure 8.. Y

Ahandle 60 is adjustable relative to the yoke 50.

With the type of pawl and ratchet mechanism shown in Figures 6, 7, 8 and9, this is not necessary inasmuch as the handle can be adjusted toY anyposition desiredy by merely rotating it around the ratchet member 56a.It can then be oscillated in such position and regardless of how smallthe strokes of oscillation are, the member 56a will be rotated forcausing lifting movement of the jack mechanism and the hydraulicmechanism will eifectively hold any lifting movement gained. It will beobvious vthat other types of gripping mechanisms can be substituted forthe type shown in Figure 8 and will operate just as effectivelyfinconjunction with the hydraulic mechanism to act as a holding means and areadily controlled lowering means.

The particular construction shown, it will be noted, is such that at thebeginning of the raising operation, the pinions and mechanism cai'-,

ried thereby are at therear end of the jack frame and out of the way ofparts of the automobile Which overhang the axles.

As the automobile and consequently such overhanging parts are raised,more room is provided and the traveling mechanism therefore has plentyof room to operate even though traveling toward the front end of thejack.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose ofmy invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a jack structure, a horizontal frame, a lifting member of bellcrank shape pivoted thereto, a lifting head carried by one arm of saidlifting member, means for imparting pivotal movement to said liftingmember comprising a rack stationary relative to said frame and arrangedlongitudinally thereof, a pinion rotatable therealong, a shaft for saidpinion, a link connected with said shaft and with the other arm of saidlifting member and means for rotating said pinion.

2. In a jack structure, a horizontal frame, a lifting member of bellcrank shape pivoted thereto, a lifting head carried by one arm of saidlifting member, means for imparting pivotal movement to said liftingmember comprising a rack longitudinally of and stationary relative tosaid frame, a pinion rotatable therealong, a shaft for said pinion, alink connected with said shaft and with the other arm of said liftingmember, means for rotating said pinion and hydraulic mechanism forpreventing lowering of said lifting head.

3. In a jack structure, a relatively long, low frame, a lifting memberof bell crank shape pivoted thereto, a lifting head carried by one armof said lifting member, means for imparting pivotal movement to saidlifting member comprising a rack stationary relative to said frame andarranged lengthwise thereof, a pinion rotatabletherealong, a shaft forsaid pinion, a link connected with said shaft and with the other arm ofsaid lifting member, means for rotating said pinion and hydraulicmechanism for preventing lowering of said lifting head, said hydraulicmeching arm, means for rotating said pinion, hy-

draulic mechanism for preventing lowering of said lifting head, saidhydraulic mechanism including a check Valve and means for both openingsaid check valve and releasing said pinion to Vpermit lowering of saidlifting head.

5. In a jack structure, a frame, a' lifting head raisable relativethereto and means for rais` ing said lifting head comprising a rack barmounted on said frame, a pinion rotatable along said rack bar andoperatively connected with said lifting head to move it when said pinionmoves along said rack bar and pawl and ratchet mechanism for rotatingsaid pinion, said mechanism comprising a pair of pawls and a pair ofratchet members having teeth in staggered relation.

6. In a jack structure, a lifting head and mechanism for raising saidlifting head with step by step movement, said mechanism comprising asmooth faced ratchet membena pawl member to grip said face regardless ofthe degree of movement of the pawl member relative to the face and ahydraulic check means to prevent any lowering of said head regardless ofany degree it may be raised.

7. In a jack. structure, a lifting head, mechanism for raising saidlifting head with step by step movement, said mechanism comprising asmooth faced ratchet member and a pawl member to grip said faceregardless of the degree of movement of the pawl member relative to theface, hydraulic mechanism to prevent lowering of said head and means forreleasing both said first mentioned mechanism and releasing" saidhydraulic mechanism for lowering said lifting head.

8. In a jack structure, a lifting head, mechanism for raising saidlifting head with step by step movement, said mechanism comprising asmooth faced ratchet member and a pawl member to grip said faceregardless of the degree of movement of the pawl member relative to theface, hydraulic mechanism to prevent lowering of said head, a pawl toprevent settling of said head and a single means for releasing saidfirst mentioned mechanism, releasing said hydraulic mechanism andreleasing said pawl for lowering said head.

9. In a jack structure, a lifting head, mechanism for raising saidlifting head with step by step movement, said mechanism comprising asmooth faced ratchet member and a pawl member to grip said faceregardless of the degree of movement of the pawl member relative totheface, hydraulic mechanism to prevent lowering and a pawl to preventsettling of said head.

10. VYiIna jack structure, a frame, a lifting arm pivoted thereto, arack bar mounted on said frame, a pinion rotatable along said rack bar,a

shaft for saidl pinion, a link connecting said shaft with said liftingarm, said link having a roller thereon for coaction `with said rack barto retain said pinion in mesh therewith and means for rotating saidpinion.

1l. In a jack structure, a horizontal frame,'a lifting arm pivotedthereto, an elongated rack bar mounted lengthwise on said frame, apinion rotatable along said rack bar, a shaft for said pinion, a thrustlink Connecting said shaft with said lifting arm, means for rotatingsaid pinion in a direction to raise said lifting arm and hydraulicmechanism to prevent reverse rotation of said pinion.

12. in a jack structure, a frame, a lifting arm pivoted thereto, a rackbar mounted on said frame, a pinion rotatable along said rack har, ashaft for said pinion, a link connecting said shaft with said liftingarm, means for rotating said pinion in a direction to raise said liftingarm and hydraulic mechanism to prevent reverse rotation of said pinion,said hydraulic mechanism including a check valve and means for renderingthe means for rotating said pinion inoperative and opening said checkvalve to permit the lifting arm to lower.

13. In a jack structure, a frame, a lifting arm pivoted thereto, a rackbar mounted on said frame, a pinion rotatable along said rack bar, ashaft forv said pinion, a link connecting said shaft with said liftingarm, means for rotating said pinion, said means comprising a pawl and aratchet member and hydraulic mechanism to prevent reverse rotationthereof and including a check valve and means for lifting said pawl fromsaid ratchet member and opening said check valve to permit lowering ofsaid lifting arm.

14, In a jack structure, a frame, a lifting head raisable relativethereto and means for raising said lifting head comprising a rack barmounted on said frame, a pinion rotatable along said rack bar andoperatively connected with said lifting head to move it when said pinionmoves along said rack bar and pawl and ratchet mechanism for rotatingsaid pinion, said mechanism comprising a pair of pawls' and a pair ofratchet members, said pawls and said ratchet members having their teethin staggered relation to each other.

LEONARD D. NILSON.

